Lip service on climate action means car culture continues to dominate

Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly has criticised ‘lip service on climate action’ following Galway City Council’s rejection of a temporary two-way segregated cycle track along the coastal side of Salthill Promenade on Monday, February 14th. While 17 of Galway’s 18 Councillors voted in favour of the project in 2021, a motion overturning this project was passed by 13 votes to 4 despite a commitment of €1m from the National Transport Authority to implement the trial scheme.

Following the vote, Senator O’Reilly said;

“When councillors are lining up to support Compulsory Purchase Orders for a massive Ring Road, and yet rejecting a reversible bike lane, it is clear that car culture continues to dominate. There were lots of great ideas from the public about how the lane could be improved to take account of having extra coast side disability parking slots and pedestrian crossings. Yet councillors voted to scrap the whole scheme.

“It is absolutely essential to listen to concerns from local businesses and blue light services, but these concerns can also be addressed through good planning and infrastructure. Research indicates that implementing cycle lanes can in fact improve footfall for businesses compared to car-centric roadways. Two-way cycle lanes are also shown to help emergency services as they are not held up by cars. In Ireland, for example, this has been demonstrated in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown where they rolled out a very successful trial cycle track in 2020.”

Green Party Spokesperson for Transport, Climate Action and Environment, and Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action, Brian Leddin TD said;

“The outcome of this vote in Galway suggests that providing unprecedented funding is not enough and national policy is being ignored. Our local authorities have to be at the forefront of climate action. They must live up to their responsibilities and provide safe and connected cycle networks for their communities. Safe cycle routes have been a huge success around Ireland and Salthill would have been a small step in the right direction for Galway. All our towns and cities need this infrastructure so that everybody, of all ages and abilities, can choose to cycle.”

Senator O’Reilly concluded;

“We need to get real about meeting climate targets and making our cities safe and liveable for people. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil may pay lip service to the importance of climate action, but it’s at a local level that we need to see that demonstrated. It’s completely out of touch with reality and the future of communities and transport to continue to prioritise cars over pedestrians and cyclists.”